The budget proposal comes amid
ongoing protests in Madison over a Republican plan to limit
collective bargaining rights for public employees. Walker is in a
political deadlock with Democrats,
who are hiding out to avoid a vote on the measure, which is
packaged in an emergency budget repair bill that addresses this
year's $137 million budget shortfall.

Walker has
threatened to lay off hundreds of state workers if Democrats
didn't come back for a vote before the state missed its chance to
refinance $165 million in debt. But his Tuesday deadline came and
went with no signs of the truant lawmakers.

Wisconsin - a very creditworthy state - won't face fiscal
disaster if it can't refinance the debt, the
WSJ reports. There are other ways to address the shortfall,
which is only about 0.5% of the state's budget.